


One Soul; Nine Links

by Melonya



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Platonic Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:22:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25026136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melonya/pseuds/Melonya
Summary: Flowers and Blood, Marks and Notes, Found and Remembered, Compass and Pain, Strings holding the soul together. Soulmates are people with complimentary souls and experience, but if there's one soul for nine people, what happens when they meet?
Relationships: Four & Hyrule & Legend & Sky & Time & Twilight & Warriors & Wild & Wind (Linked Universe), Link & Link (Legend of Zelda), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 50
Kudos: 215





	1. Wild Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> I've always adored the concept of soulmates, especially when people work for the relationship. So I thought I would indulge myself with my favorite fandom and character interactions. Hope y'all enjoy.

Link woke to flowers. In every breath, in every step, and in every word, there were flowers. They crawled and twined his spine, keeping him steady in even the darkest nights. They had been there as long as he could remember.

Which to be fair, he only remembered the glowing blue and sudden light before waking.

He is a child in this world, stumbling on weak legs and even weaker thoughts. New to everything and yet older than most, his quest is less a quest than a request. A voice spoken from the empty air and clouded by malice.

And so Link walked. In every step, and every breath, he saw flowers. Flowers in the grass, flowers by the fountains, flowers on cliffs, flowers in sand, and flowers on his skin.

Beautiful and twisting, it is only when the old man spoke of them that he knew they were there. He spoke of them as if they were a secret and vile. Something to keep hidden and never speak of. Link wanted to spit on his feet for daring to speak of the flowers that way, but he knew the man had important information he didn’t, and so he stayed quiet. 

Cocking his head to the side, as if asking for more, Link slowly blinked and flicked his ears. He was new to the world but his mind worked fast to keep him safe. And so he asked without asking, what were the flowers?

Soulmarks, the old man said. The goddess gave them to those she deems worthy of love, of friends, of family, of enemies. She allows the passion in every soul to spark and ignite into a blaze, to burn marks directly into the skin. What the marks were spoke of the soul that blazed within. 

Link had nine marks on his back, a braid of flowers that twisted down his spine. A rainbow of colours exploding from growth and petals, the green leaves splayed out and catching any scars that speckled his skin. 

Lucky, the old man said, lucky that his scars on his side didn't touch his marks. 

Link disagreed, lucky that his soulmates cared enough to protect him from the worst of it. Lucky for being alive. Lucky for everyone but him.

The old man tells him more, and more,  _ and more. _ The King, The Hero, The Princess, and the Enemy. Link has a role to play and his soulmates have no part of this play. He is alone and alone he must stay. And so he does.

Sidon, Teba, Riju, Bludo, Kass, and the citizens he protects. All but a stem, plucked too early to tell. No budding friendship will he keep in the face of his role. 

Not when he accepts their requests, not when he takes picture after picture. Not after the wedding, not after a home was built, not when he reads by a fireplace blazing in his home. Not with the wolf leaping by his side. Link refuses to get attached even if he loves them all so dearly. Instead, he fights and learns.

The first flower blooming at the very top of his spine was an Armoranth. Purple and green, protector of those that hold another dear. The shield that you place at the door of your home on dark nights and bloody mornings. Link finds them in the wild and smiles, ever watchful of his step. His soulmate that protects that they hold dear, he wants to meet them some day.

The one that glows and sways with deadly precision across his shoulder blades, like blue lanterns at night, are Blue Nightshade. Vigilant and cunning, it is death for those that do not know how to handle it right. Link keeps them in a case separated, one case the flower and the other the berries. It is no surprise to him that the flower is known as the 'hide and seek' flower. He wonders what this soulmate will be like. Fun or annoying? Friend or foe? Playful or Deadly? He isn't sure he wants to meet this one.

Link's wolf friend disagrees, whining whenever he speaks ill of Blue Nightshade, his claws digging into the dirt and his ears laying back against his head. Link wonders if Soulmates could be animals, but dismisses it. Link is lucky, but not that lucky. But if they could be...he would need to make an apology steak.

Hyrule Herbs kiss his skin after the nightshade, as if apologizing for the harsh words and scars littering his skin. Swaying with love and home. A normal flower. But normal is kept in high regard in a world burnt and regrowing with malice dripping ever interaction with a purple light. It is no surprise that normal is love and family, home. Link keeps Hyrule Herbs close and hopes with all his might that this soulmate will be normal, will be  _ his normal. _ But Link has a request to fulfill before he could even begin to try to find the marks that match his.

Link walks. He walks in grass, water, sand, and memories not his own. Traveling by foot and by word, hands grabbing every flower he can and every book on them he can find.

There are flowers everywhere. In his mind, his heart, his lungs, and in his skin. Thorns dragging and violets nourishing. Link is a fairy ring of flowers growing between the ruins of a broken world.

Beneath the herbs of home that lay on his back, he has thorns poking out and piercing the unsuspecting passerby; colours exploding in fiery determination. Mighty Thistles nestle beneath home and bring caution with analytical thoughts. Its thorny outer layer giving way to its inner meaning, from caution to care. It is the flower given to those that make for future fathers, given with care and love. Which is why Link has no problem imagining the thistles beneath the herb, they are common to be mixed together in bouquets. Link wonders if this soulmate has children.

Link has to stay alone and yet he wishes more than anything for his soulmates, if only to deem them safe. If only to be able to cross them out if they prove to be awful. If only to see if he has a chance at a second family. 

Link ignores the nagging fear that he's met them already. Met them in another's memories. Met them when he was not him. 

Wolfie keeps him company the nights when he cant ignore the nagging fear anymore, and by morning he never brings it up again. At least not until next time.

Climbing upwards and perched comfortably amongst the thorns, sits a cliff climbers friend. Swift Violets swaying in an invisible breeze, playful waving at the flowers on the ground, it is the flower that Link wonders about. A scientist? A soldier? A scholar? What could this flower be but an ugly reminder that Link isn't doing what he wants to do? Reliable, resourceful, and "always one step ahead". The violets make Link want to scream and throw swords, which he does. Wolfie always snuffs his displeasure to destroying swords but he thinks he's in the right here.

This soulmate is everything that The Princess wants him to be, and it's always mocking Link whenever he sees it. Always a step ahead of him, Link rips the page out of the books and throws it into the wild. He ignores Wolfie picking it up and keeping it.

He ignores a lot of things.

What he can not ignore is The Princess any longer, so he does what he is asked of. He focuses on the request once more.

At the base of the braid of flowers holding his spine, is a trio that intertwine and clash harsher than Link thought possible. Warm, Electric, and Cool Safflina braid yellow, red, and blue together. Warring and clashing each other, Link hopes they aren't triplets. 

The Warm Saffina was loyal, empathetic, and good hearted. Electric was quirky, fun, and 'look at me!'. Cool being Tranquility, sharp-witted, and 'don't overwork'. The mix mash of safflina describes people that couldn't be any more different yet heavily entwined. Link wonders what the story will once be when he meets them. 

Grasping the sword in his hands, he pulls it with pain and life draining light. Truth reached out and touched him, swaddling his marks with care and love that it does not give him. 

Link knew then and there. The marks blazing across his back, they were more worthy than him. They were heroes and he was an actor acting out a play. He will never meet them.

Only Wolfie is there to see him cry.

Flowers in his breath, in his mind, in his skin, in his soul. He is flowers and the flowers are him. His tears are petals that cling to his lashes and remind him he is mortal. He is an actor with a role to play. But if his soulmates were heroes, and they held him up, well he couldn't give up now.

Not with the words pounding in his head. Not with his Princess crying out for him, desperately pleading and asking for his aid. Not when she cries out and tells him of his last flower, of the one directly in the middle of his shoulder blades.

The memory plays out as it usually does but now he knows. He knows.

His Princess was the final flower, but so was he. So were the champions. The people, Hyrule itself, sat perched in his soul. 

A Silent Princess meant more than just the love of royalty. Meant more than what the books said and what the people knew. 

Link made the saying for this flower as he fought. As his sword pierced eyes and malice. As light poured from arrows and from his very soul. His flower, his soul, his meaning. 

The final flower meant what he always knew it should be, "Love through time and catastrophe".

Link loved and loved and loved. He was the protector of Hyrule, of his friends, of his family. He was the flower and the flower was him, he was the Wild and it was time people knew that.

With a final arrow, with a final slash, with a final confrontation, Link and Zelda met once again. 

And Link loved as his flowers always said he would.


	2. Blood Brother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW, lots of blood symbolism yall! It's not graphic but the word is used a lot.

When Link was a child, his uncle used to tell him stories. Stories about family and blood. 

Blood coloured every relationship in the stories deemed fit by his uncle. Family was worked for, family was the connection one may have with patience, love, and time. 'It was blood that connected you to your true family', his uncle used to say. 

Red blood that flowed through every breath and every decision. Every whispered 'I love you' and every act of affection. It drenched gifts with meaning and gave everyone the ability to know, to understand, to know without hesitation that someone out there was yours. Yours to love, yours to protect, yours to build a home with.

Link asked and asked about how he would know his soulmates and if he even had any, but his uncle only gave him frustrating answers. 'You will know, when you know' he said with a grin as he husked corn. 

Huffing, Link set the table and ate dinner quietly. It would be their last dinner together. But only one of them knew that. 

An open door, a whispered warning, a sword, and a goodbye.

Rain pounded heavily against him, as Link slunk out after dark. A firm hand pressed against his back telling him to  _ move _ . Jerking away and looking back, all he saw was the darkness he had already left behind. So he trudged on, his feet slick with rain and mud. He would later learn who that was but it did not matter now, now all that mattered was his uncle.

Taking in the traps, the mechanisms, and the hole, Link walked. 

Rain washed away many things, and it could wash away blood. As death stared Link in the eyes for the first time, the rain gently washed away his tears. 

Hands found their way to his shoulders, many giving comfort, others pushing him forward. Dwelling on the past would do nothing but harm. Even still, Link stayed grounded by the many hands of his soulmates. All there but not in a way to help. 

Link grabbed his uncle's sword and went to do as a dream asked of him.

It would be him, Link supposed, that had so many soulmates. Linked by blood and destiny.

A blood bond, that is what his Uncle called it. To bond with blood and magic, chosen by fate and by the goddesses themselves. To go back and to comfort their Soulmate in the past. Link had called it awesome.

It wasn't awesome when he stood over a soldier's body with a bloody sword. A rough hand pressed down on his shoulder, telling him it was alright. Link tried to ignore them.

Blood covered his hands and Link hadn't realized it could be so evil. He had heard stories about family blood, of the blood that ran between soulmates but this. This was wrong.

The rough hands jerked him around and he felt his soulmate hug him. Link wanted to laugh, he felt delirious. An invisible soulmate from the future he will one day meet is hugging him. 

His soulmate kept him close, trying to comfort him to the best of their ability while unable to communicate. Link felt tears well up and slip down his face, and he cried for an innocent life killed by his hands. 

Scrubbing his face, Link had to move forward. And so he walked and slayed, his blade more crimson than silver by the time he made it to the princess. The understanding soulmate was gone. 

Link silently named that one Brother.

Princess Zelda smiled at him and told him of many things, Link hardly paid attention. It was another soulmate, this time playful and light that dragged him onwards. Towards the light.

An almost wispy hand that felt like a gentle breeze grabbed his and dragged him along. Zelda held his other hand, quietly muttering about the soldiers and magic. Link just tried to stay in the moment. Wind kept him walking and hiding. 

Link's sword didn't meet a single soldier before they ended up in front of the priest. Not a drop of blood spilled, and Wind was gone. Link wanted to say thank you, but decided he would when they met.

If they met, no, they would meet. They would have to if Wind and Brother were here to comfort him.

It is the one he called Feather that is with him when he meets Sahasrahla, an almost delicate touch that grew claws when angered. Link thought of birds when this soulmate was near, and so, Feather. 

And angry they were; pendants, sword, virtue, blood of a hero. Feather nearly crushed Links shoulder when they realized what Link was about to do. Link could care less, he had to do it!

If he didn't help, who would?

Link's soulmates didn't appear for a long time after that, only a small hand gently pushing his hand to the right piece of a puzzle or a scarred hand tugging him away from avoidable danger. Small things, but good things.

Link liked Puzzle and Survivor. They helped him learn how to do the hard parts of being a hero. 

Dark reflections are strange, Wolf meets Link as a pink bunny. His first transformation scares him and makes him scream, his fingers clawing and his ears folded back. Wolf gently nudges him and keeps him steady during this portion of the adventure.

It is in the lost woods, sword practically calling out, that Link meets Shield. A strong body keeping Link from advancing towards his destiny. Shielding him from pain. Link grew frustrated trying to get past them and sits, staring up to where he thinks Shield's face is.

Link pouts as Shield ruffles his hair. 

Feather appeared as well, his hands gently pushing Link forward. Shield tries to stop him but Feather seems to have done something because Shield steps aside. 

Link pulls the Master Sword and everything changes. 

He is too late, he is always too late. 

Link rescues the maidens with little trouble, a small scratch on his side.

Healer, a new soulmate, heals him. Link never knew Soulmates could do that, it is nice. For once things are going his way.

A tower, a pyramid, sword, arrows, and a wish. Link breaths in and sighs. It is over and he and Zelda are safe. Everyone is safe.

Link is still alone.

Link tries to ignore that during his next quest he doesn't get any meetings with his soulmates, he tries very hard to ignore what that could mean with Ambi and the Twinrovas.

He ignores the empty house, the empty spaces in his home. An extra bed, an extra plate, an extra set of everything. Link never gets around to throwing any of that out, he couldn't bear getting rid of anything that was his uncle's.

He tries to fill the holes with items. It does little to make him feel better.

Link is alone, truly alone. No soulmates visit him. No family to eat with him, Link grows bitter.

It is years later, when a hand shakes him awake, that Link is truly weary. Brother was back, shaking him and waking him up for what? Danger? 

It is only Gully yelling at him to wake up and get to work. Maybe everyone's right, maybe he should find a new job. Rolling over, Link walks into the light and a new day. Link ignores the feeling of blood on his hands and gets to work.

Puzzle is waiting for him, their small hands clutching his and tugging him towards the swords and forge. Happy, excited, playful, Puzzle acted like nothing changed. Link was bitter. He had gone through two adventures without his soulmates bugging him. He didn't need them now.

Snatching his hands back, he shuffled forward to be yelled at. Puzzle hesitantly lays their hands on his arms and shakes him a little, a silent question.

Link ignores Puzzle. 

He ignores Brother when Brother tries to get him to not fight Yuga for the first time.

He ignores Healer when Healer tries to make sure hes okay when he wakes up.

Link wakes to purple and rabbits. The strange man has taken up shop in his home. Link wants to punch the stranger, but restrains himself. The strange rabbit was doing what he thought was best and Link could appreciate that, even if it was a pointless endeavor.

For once, someone else has tried to fill the holes in Links home.

Link isn't alone.

Link has to tell Zelda, he has to let her know about Yuga. About the paintings and Seres, about the danger to the kingdom. So with a heavy heart, Link marches onwards into the light. 

The apprentice ignores him and goes deeper into the temple, and Link walks behind him. His blood sings and his soulmates start appearing more and more, until finally they are all there to witness Link get struck by magic.

He can almost hear them screaming in fear, and oddly he can hear someone say something about a legend.

Link is saved by purple magic and by blood. 

Link falls flat on his face when he exits the painting. His nose is bloody and crooked. Healer is there to fix it. Survivor is there to start messing with his sword and armor. Shield hugs him. Brother is shaking his shoulder in silent anger. Puzzle and Wind have his hands in theirs, shaking in fear for Link. Wolf leans into his side. Feather is not there, Link wonders what he did to upset him. 

A pendant disguised as a gift, an attack, the castle is surrounded by stained glass magic and paint. Blood lays heavy on Links hands and his heart shivers, its happening again. Shield and Brother lay their hands on his shoulders, silent support.

Link acknowledges their support with a side glance and a sigh. 

Temples and puzzles, enemies, injuries, and Ravio. Healer is with him when he rents Ravio's items. Sheerow screes with glee and lands on Healer's hand, Legend blinks and he must have imagined it, because Sheerow hasn't landed on anything.

Ravio is oddly silent.

Wind is with him when he is in the House of Gales, his fluttery aura screaming with glee as he watches Link use the Tornado wand. Link finds comfort in it, even if he doesn't mention it.

Two more pendants and Link has the sword once again. Feather isn't there to greet him or the sword.

Link swallows back the fear and pain, why isn't Feather here with him?

Survivor is the one who greets him at the edge of the forest, gently pulling him towards the castle and away from danger. Link pulls both of them to a stop, his hand tugging Survivor to his side.

Looking into the distance, Link turns to Survivor and plucks a feather from the ground, holding it out and cocking his head to the side. A universal symbol of confusion.

A long moment passes and Link is afraid that Survivor doesn't get it, but Survivor grabs the feather and grabs his sword. Laying both side by side on the ground. Survivor lays Links hands on the blade itself, as if saying that the blade is the key.

Link doesn't get it, but he'll try to fix the problem. And if the problem is the blade itself, then so be it,  _ he'll fix the problem. _

Sunset warps the castle into a haunted home of the dead, one in which Link does not want to be. But he runs into the dark and tries to save Zelda, Yuga gets there before him

A golden painting and purple magic. Stained glass cracks and darkness. Link has ran into the light for so long, maybe it is time he runs into the dark.

Save the seven, save the princess, get the triforce. Link can do that. Brother and Wolf are by his side and both are ready to help him find the paintings.

Temple, hideout, castle, Link walks with blood in his nails and dead grass at his feet. It is only a second before he is back in his world of light, back to his home that is filled with purple and feathers. 

Ravio and Sheerow wait for him in a home no longer empty and Link's heart aches. He doesn't want Ravio to leave. Puzzle is by his side and knows, Puzzle always seems to know.

Items, smith shop, potions, ruppees, and Metal. The sword has begun to heal.

Feather brushed against Link's shoulder. They were gone before Link could react. But progress has been made that can't be taken back.

Link runs back into the calming dark heart first, only to be betrayed with thorny vines and stained glass magic.

No time to be prepared for the dark reflections, no time for arrows and purple magic. No time as the dark princess monologues and Shield keeps Link down, no time as Ravio jumps in and the tapestry of lies unfurls. There is no time for Link but there is time.

A wish breathed into a dark world lights its burdens and fills twisted hearts with love. Blood pumping through the land and keeping it alive once more.

Link's house is empty. Link is alone.

The Holes are filled with the items Link rented from Ravio but can't return. 

Link goes on a trip. He takes the sword and Feather hugs Link. Would it be unfair of Link to say he does not care? Feather was back but Ravio was gone.

Link sails with Wind and Feather. Storm clouds hurling hatred and rain down upon him and he only has time to think of his uncle, of the blood washed away, before he is struck down. 

Light filters through his eyes, and red hair falls like blood on a downed enemy. Orange eyes gleam with delight, and Link's heart stops.

Marin was beautiful.

His soulmates don't bother him for a long time after that. Link is happy.

Link loves Marin and they aren't soulmates. What a beautiful life it is, to not be bound by destiny but by choice.

Laughter, happiness, love, joy, and a new home that has no holes. Link feels for once his life is fulfilled. 

He starts killing the monsters.

He decides to get rid of them at the source.

He wishes he had his soulmates with him when he finds out it's an illusion. He wishes he had Brother and Wolf to lean into. He wishes Puzzle and Wind were there to get him into a game of some sort. He wishes Survivor was there to help him find a way to end this without hurting her. He wishes Healer was there to heal his broken heart. He wishes Shield was there to shield him from the lies. He wishes Feather was there to snap him out of it.

He wishes, and he wishes. But there is no golden magic to make this darkness into light.

Link is alone again, but he is alone amongst love.

Maybe it is because he is a hero but Link can not find it in him to destroy this dream,  _ this illusion. _ It had to be real, because if it was not then what did that mean for Marin and him? For the love and home they had built? For the holes that were not there anymore?

He does nothing for a long time, idly walking with Marin in the cold waters of the sea.

He wonders what would happen if he took a boat and sailed away. He doubts he would get far. 

It is sudden, it is loud, and it is ringing in his ears when it happens. A voice screaming his name, high and childish. Then another, and another, and another. Until 8 voices are ringing through his ears and mind screaming for him to come back to them, to come home.

Marin was there, and her blood red hair swayed on an invisible breeze. She knows, Link knows, they all know.

They can no longer pretend, and so with a heavy heart and a glistening sword, Link walks upwards and to the light of waking.

A shade, a nightmare, a god, and he wakes. Blood flows freely and coats his hands red. Red with blood of the damned, blood of a dream.

Yet hands and hugs and comfort await him as he sits up on his driftwood. Koholint is gone and so is the Windfish. A song of fading dreams drift past his ears and his blood sings out with it, and then nothing.

He is not alone on the raft fragments. He is not alone as he is saved by another boat. He is not alone when he gets home.

Wind, Survivor, Brother, Shield, Healer, Puzzle, Wolf, and Feather are all by his side as he enters his empty home.

But that isn't true, for an empty home suggests that there is no one there. That there are holes unfilled.

Link enters his home with his soulmates to Ravio at the table, and his heart fills with joy. 

A legend of blood, tears, dreams, and illusions end with a full home and a full heart. Link is blood and blood is home. 

Link is never alone, as his hands run red with blood of those he saved, and will continue to save. 

He is home at long last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is confused by the Soulmate Au chosen for Legend just let me know, I'll gladly explain and link a fanfic that has used this au. And as always, thanks to my lovely beta Seeking7!


	3. Black Sheep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twilight's chapter! His is 'first touch', TW some mention of touch starvation and amnesia.

Link grew up in a town where soulmates were considered stories, folk tales, things of old. Never were they considered real. But Link did ever so like the tales about people you had to find that would love you for you, no matter what you were or had done. Even if you were an orphan. Even if you were silent save for a few moments here and there. Even if you're pointy in a town of round. Link wanted that more than anything. Soulmates didn't care about your faults, they couldn't lie to you, they loved all of you.

Link didn't believe in them, but he dreamed of them. Dreamed that the dark birthmarks on his skin were marks that would bloom with colour once touched. He dreamed and dreamed, and forgot about the people in front of him.

Years of living with Rusl's guidance and children's chatter meant little to him. They could hide their hatred from him, their irritation, their exasperation with Link. They were not bound to him in a form of Love. Link couldn't bear to think of it, so he dreamed instead.

From a house on the ground to a tree, from doing chores and keeping an eye, from talking and reassuring, Link was a staple of the community. But he couldn't see it. Couldn't see past his dreams and wants. 

He couldn't see it until the fire and darkness licked at his fingers and eyes, dragging him into the twilight and away from everything he knew.

Fur and gray, covering everything away. Washing his marks into an oblivion and making them pointless. He was bound by chains and hatred. Kept in stones and water.

A wolf howled and an Imp cackled, chains broke and left a reminder for the dreamer. 

Midna rode Link like a horse and pet him like a dog. Degrading as it was, Link couldn't help but like it. When was the last time he had been touched? 

Midna was rude, mean, and gentle in a way Link couldn't describe. Gentle in her eyes that were sharper than knives. Gentle in her tugs against his fur. Gentle in her wicked words. Gentle in her smile that was a tad too sharp. Gentle but an Imp, Link wondered what she was truly. A mask or a mark uncoloured? Link decided to help and watch.

Midna brought him to a tower, tall and leaning. Her impish smile filled with an even darker edge to it when they met with a cloaked figure. Words bouncing with malice and frigid anger were cloaked with mischievous amusement.

Link cared only for the fact that he could do nothing in this form. Could no longer help nor speak. A dog at the beck and call of the princess in front of him, a chain to be held by the Imp balanced on his back. 

In the Light of Twilight, Link wanted nothing more than to run. To run and find his family, the one he had treated with such little care. Link growled and learned.

It was justice in yellow, words spoken with an echo, and a spirit older than time that told him what he needed to do. Quest for Light restored and only then could his claws be fingers and fangs be teeth, only then would his sharp recede back to his mind and soul. 

Midna cackles and Link howls, they gather the sword and shield. Wolf and Imp gather tears and suddenly grey turns to green.

He is a hero, but a hero punished. Link wished and dreamed, but he was done with that, it was time for now. Time to ignore the marks, time to  _ live. _

King of Darkness and fused shadows, everything dark and needed. Midna is loud and eager for what is to come, Link tries to keep up with her. He tries to learn. If he is in the now, if he has to wait to find his family, if he is to wait in the present without looking to the past or future, he will try for Midna. 

Sitting and listening to her speak, he asks about the stories in her world. Asks about her favourite and her hated ones. He asked and she answered.

She spoke of light, of darkness, she spoke of balance in the Twilight. She stayed silent of the important things, of herself. 

Instead she asked him of the splattered marks on him. Of the one on his cheek, and the one on his hand. Midna jokes that she didn't know humans could naturally have marks like her.

Link tells her it is his regret. Midna no longer laughs.

He tells her of his dreams, of family, of love. Of his punishment for not seeing what was in front of him from the start. What they mean and what they symbolize. Midna does not laugh. She does not cry, either. She looks him in the eyes and simply apologizes before they go to another subject.

That night is one of the ones that Link thinks of for many years to come, it is the one that makes him wonder. 

It is to the rocks and to the heat that they travel. It is towards his family that he walks, it is towards his repentance.

He fights the gorons, he fights the bolbins, he saves Colin. He is reunited with some of his family and he nearly cries. 

He is back and holds them close, his brothers and sister. It burns to be touched; it has been a long time since he has hugged or given a hug, but he still gives them comfort. Midna doesn't remark on it. 

She does tell him that she opposes the Twilight King. She speaks his name as if it was bile, poison on the tongue and mind. Link knows she knows more than she lets on. He is no fool. But then again, he was a dreamer, a blind dreamer. Maybe it is only fair that he does not speak of fools when he was one himself. 

To the castle, to the meeting, to the place of stone and chains. They stop by the sick, by the river that flows and changes. They save the fish and the people, they save many and get a meeting with a ghost. Beautiful and flowing, Link listens and does as she says.

They get to a lake of light, they get the final spirit, they are told of power and the fear that comes with it. Link can only think of his marks. Of marks spread across his body that seeped with shadows and darkness. Of Twilight burning through. 

Link sees his friend with amnesia and it hurts more than he cares to admit, it burns his insides and withers his hope for his family to be together again. It hurts and he can't speak so he doesn't. He runs like the wolf he is and  _ hunts _ .

A mirror, shards, and a sword made of magic of the goddess. It is the fault of men and the Hero of Time that Twilight reigns across his land. The Hero of Time, Link cares little for his story. Link never did listen to it and now it was important. His dreams coloured his memories with voids and smoke.

He walks through snow, hidden mirages, water, and smoke to gain what is needed of him. Midna is there to help and laugh, her impish cackles slowly thawing the hurt in Link's heart. Even the shards of mirrors could hardly pierce it when Link could listen to her snickers with a warm glow in his heart. 

It is not changed by the reveal, not by her hands at least. Link holds the feelings back and hopes Midna doesn't notice, doesn't see what is in front of her. After all, she was the same as he once was, and that could be blinding.

Ganondorf and Zant, curses and power, shadows and light. Midna truly is the same as Link. 

Light rains down from above and swords come down with sickening crunches, as revenge from a crushed shadow. From a death that Link could not bear to deal with. 

Do not look to the past or future, dreamer. Do not look as your anger blinds you. Do not look when your face burns.  _ Do not look as true Twilight clutches your soul and leaves marks on your very being. _

It is the final sword move that saves him, finishes what the Hero of Time could not. 

Link kneels before the dead and the Lights answer, balance is needed.

Midna is beautiful and she still has the sharpness that Link had known, but even now, her touches are gentle. Her fingers come to his face and drag down his nose and between his eyes, as if petting an invisible snout. 

Crossing his eyes, Link laughs and asks her why she did that. Midna simply smiles and says that his stories might not just be stories.

Link doesn't understand until he is staring into a broken mirror and his own face peers back, marks on his face blooming with the colours of Twilight.

Tears and sadness could not even begin to describe his feelings for what had happened, could not describe his absolute joy that his love was true but the sadness that he could never see her again. Was it another test? That he was told that soulmates were true but he could never see them again? He would die in the hands of his home but not with the eyes of his soulmates near? 

Link tried to ignore the thoughts, tried to ignore the marks. Years or months could have gone by before he dreamed. Dreamed of flowers and the  _ wild. _

Of a boy with swaying nightshade that glowed on his back, of hands that touched Link's ears before anything else. Of glowing blue marks on his ears when he woke. 

The boy had cried for a long time, kept to himself, but loved and loved with everything he had. His memories meant nothing but the flowers meant everything. Link wished he could tell him that he was his soulmate, to tell him that they would meet again.

Link didn't know his name, or if he was real. But even still, he followed the boy of flowers and dreams. 

It took many months before Link stopped dreaming of the boy. Of hands on his face and ears. Of flowers swaying in Twilight. Of his soulmates that he would never meet again. 

But Link was fine, it was a gift he thought. A gift that he could be given soulmates at all, that he had been able to help and see them. That he had a family away from it all. 

Link was happy, and Link accepted the touches of his family. He had met his Soulmates and learned many lessons from them, stories weren't just stories and touch didn't mean unconditional love. Touch meant acceptance of self, of family. 

Link stopped dreaming and started walking. Amongst the dark and light, amongst the Twilight of his soul.


	4. Viva Voce

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hyrule's chapter is here! His is a tad mixed up, first words or when you know au? Who's to say! Well, I know, but that's for later! Hope y'all enjoy!

Link remembered laughter, words without meaning, and someone gently whispering love to him. A house with warm colours and love in every memory. It was meaningless in the long run. The only memory clear enough for him to take heed was a voice screaming for him to run, run and never look back. It would be the foundation of his life. 

Link would run, and would never stay in one place for long. 

It was silent in the forest, no one to laugh or to sing. No one was there but Link. He continued to run onwards.

It was only in the moments to himself that he allowed himself to think. To think of the words he wished were spoken out loud. Words that wrapped his wrist and his arm, loops of sentences never spoken. 

It was in those moments he wondered what they were, what they meant. He didn't know and he didn't want to know. 

_ 'Who are you?' _

Dawn peaks its golden rays and red streaks above the trees and mountain. Welcoming and beckoning, Link ran towards it. His feet pounding against stone and grass, his hands grasping his arms and tunic. He kept himself small as he ducked and bobbed around the trees, dodging away from arrows and rocks. 

His hair fell into his eyes, his voice died in his throat. Link is silent in a silent forest. No noise penetrates the fog of quiet. 

He ducks and falls, blades whirr and slash at his feet. Link races past the monsters to the bridge in front of him. Tripping directly into a hole, falling down, down, and down. 

Link screamed without noise, his voice rasping and dragging itself down his throat. 

He is within a dungeon of blue and he is alone. Steady drips of water leak through cracks echo in the stone home of malice. A dragon and a fish statue leer down at him and he runs, runs further in. A sword sits in his hand and a shield clutches his forearm.

Link does not stop to think as his sword carries him to the final passage. Nor does he stop to think as he grabs gold and his words glow. He does not stop.

_ 'Are you a hero?' _

He is still silent but he hums. Hums the song that echoes in his ears and reverberates in his mind. Golden hues shine and soak in the sound, wiggling in his mind and his words. His bow arches up and hits the enemy dead on, he is no longer silent but he is still quiet. No words spoken but sounds twist and lay on his tongue tasting of sweet freedom and bitter anxiety. 

Link runs past the monsters with bows and runs up and up, stairs finding path under his feet and he is suddenly before an impossible place. A clearing impossible to anyone but the person who stands before it with gold in his words and sword in hand.

Walking into darkness once again, Link does not stutter in his movement. Sword clenched and nails biting into his skin. He descends into stones that crackle with crumbling supports. 

Bombs explode in flashes of light; walls crumble at his hand. Sword swings and boomerang whistles. He makes the monsters eat their own death at the cost of his safety. 

Clutching gold once again his words glow with warmth, and his chest loosens a green rupees’ amount. Giggles find home within his mouth as he tries to hold back his tears.

_ 'Hey there, do you know where we are? I'm a little lost, hehehe...' _

And that is the start, the start of Link looking specifically for the golden pieces within darkness. His mind reaches for the noise that comes with each piece. His throat loosens and his words always there. Link searches and finds what was once lost to time. 

Right, up, up, up, up, and burn. Five more pieces and suddenly Link can sing, laugh, scream, and make so much noise that everywhere he goes positively trembles with noise. Pounding and shivering at the sounds coming from him. Link is no longer keeping quiet but he does not speak, there is no point when there is no one to hear but yourself.

_ 'You're like me? You found the triforce by yourself? Woah! You're so cool!' _

Link enters the final dungeon.  _ 'Run away' _ whispers the past, but he finally speaks,  _ 'no' _ .

He is done running, even if he does not know why. It is clear when the enemy in front of him shows himself, the monster made from hatred and spite. Killer of time and legends, the enemy is a fairytale spoken only in bedtime warnings. 

Link is done running. 

Arrows of silver dawn's light and sword steeped in magic bring a stop to the malice brewing within. Link standing in front of the fallen enemy and hunched over, no words spoken for the dead.   
  
There is silence; save for Link’s breathing. And then suddenly, there is a woman in white that steps out of the light and into the darkness defeated.

The woman in white who is of the light, whispers words that Link has only read, never heard. They repeat the words on his wrist, Link has found someone who speaks his words.

Grasping the golden piece without saying a word to her, he whispers their wish alongside her own. Eyes tracking every moment as the gold whooshes out and curls like ivy and frost, grabbing every piece of the world and blessing it. Blessing the evil away for another day, another hero.

_ 'You did good, kid.' _

It is Zelda, his soulmate that explains everything to him. What the words circling his wrist and arms mean, what the golden pieces he found were. She explains and everything clicks into place. 

Link ran from his past because of the words across his skin, from the fire that burned down his home and family. Link had ran as asked and had not known why. It was almost sickeningly hilarious, but only in a dark way.

This time he doesn't run, he doesn't stop the tears or words that pour out like a flood. He doesn't stop his fears or his love. But he does stop doing what he wants. 

He listens to Zelda and does as she asks, no point in running into the forest anymore. No point in exploring. No point in looking for the other words that circle his arms and chain him down. 

It is with much surprise that he learns of Zelda's request, an age old curse and a princess sleeping. She asks him to find the cure and help the sleeping girl. He agrees.

_ 'She kissed you? That's so unfair! Mine just kicked me.' _

Crystals in hand, Link sets out without complaint. His soulmate watches as he walks away and tears fall on silent prayers, Zelda knows it is him but she wishes it was not. A Princess does so wish the crown did not fall upon her head and forced her to think of her kingdom first, as she is to send her friend to die for her kingdom. And yet, he walks to it without qualms. 

Link did not speak a word of anger and yet Zelda feels it in the silence that fills the empty space between them. Feels it in his stares, feels it in his straight back, and feels it in his hands that grip her own hands tight.

With falling night and hissing grass Link finds the temple that the princess slumbers in. Fire flickering, still alive after years of burning.

_ 'We never did introduce ourselves did we? My name is....' _

Restore the crystal, restore the magic. Learn and run. Sword in hand and shield in reach, Link is once again searching. Gold glowing as it always has on his hand and his words. Humming magic on his tongue and charges the air with electricity. 

Link does not hide away from what he has to do anymore, but it does not mean he has to be happy about it. 

Healing itching in his fingers and fire blazing dizzyingly in his mind, the magic finds calmness in his words as he chatters without anyone near. Useless words and reassurance in every breath as he talks and talks. Words entering the world from his mouth with no stop, constantly singing or talking to keep a clear head as he fights. 

Entering the final palace after the six before it proves interesting, as feathers fall around him. A flying protector screeches above and dives at him. Keeping its charge safe inside. It is the electric and fire magic that clashes inside him that burns his way forward. 

His shadow stretches behind him as he steps forward into the fire and past it. The shadow reaches upwards and pulls itself into the world. A black sword in hand.

_ 'A Shadow Link? Not a dark Link?' _

The Shadow forces Link to stop walking. It does not speak, it does not say a word and yet its silence speaks volumes. Link knows what it's trying to get across, his own voice filling the void between them. He tries to ignore what it's trying to say, but his own face sneering back from the dark double makes it nearly impossible.

Swords clash and darkness leaks off his double like fog on a clear night. Link tries to blink the tears away. His silent double does not try, its own tears spilling down its cheeks.

_ 'You're not alone anymore. We're here for you. Please don't run away from us.' _

It is only a lucky strike that brings down his double. It's face is clear for just a moment, a judgmental stare before it melts like ice. His shadow is once again his own. Link shivers as his mouth continues to run through every word he knows, blinking back tears as he grabs the triforce once again.

His words stopping finally as the ancient magic soothes him and his magic back into calm waves of gold. 

Link walks back to the temple of the cursed princess and makes a wish. Magic flows once again and curling around the redhead, its golden light glowing faintly against her skin. Her eyes flew open and the other Zelda wakes up. 

The triforce curled back against Link and hid itself in his hand and words, magic leaking for all to see. Link is the protector now and he can not run from this destiny. 

The other Zelda kisses his cheek and speaks the second line of his words, and he whispers back his answer of  _ 'no' _ .

He isn't a hero, he is just a traveler doing the right thing. Someone who never stays in one place for too long, someone who makes a living on running. 

A hero is not afraid of his soulmates. Of his destiny.

_ 'It's nice to meet you, Hyrule. Heroes are always welcome to join us. Will you?' _

Link makes sure the other Zelda can get back safely before he does something he should have done ages ago. He runs away.

Link runs away and stays silent, he is no hero. Link tries the impossible, he tries to outrun destiny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As pointed out by my Beta, the dark Link isn't a shadow Link. Don't worry! I know, its just a little hint for something else. ;)  
> As for the chapter name, it translates to "Word of Mouth"/"In Living Voice". However I thought "viva voce" sounded better story wise.

**Author's Note:**

> Each Link has a different Soulmate au style, if anyone's confused by them just let me know! I'll do my best to clear it all up! Thanks for reading! And Thanks to my lovely beta Seeking7! An absolute sweetheart that has helped me greatly with my writing.


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